Man dies in SAPD's custody

Pierre T. Abernathy, 30, died after fighting San Antonio police officers attempting to arrest him early Thursday. Courtesy photo

Pierre T. Abernathy, 30, died after fighting San Antonio police officers attempting to arrest him early Thursday. Courtesy photo

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Pierre T. Abernathy, 30, died after fighting San Antonio police officers attempting to arrest him early Thursday. Courtesy photo

Pierre T. Abernathy, 30, died after fighting San Antonio police officers attempting to arrest him early Thursday. Courtesy photo

Man dies in SAPD's custody

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A man with a troubled history with authorities died in custody Thursday morning after fighting with police officers who used a Taser and K-9 in an attempt to subdue him following a slow-speed chase.

Pierre T. Abernathy, 30, was declared dead at 4:36 a.m., about 90 minutes after officers first tried to stop him for driving the wrong way on the highway at Loop 1604 and La Cantera Parkway, police said.

He eventually began driving the correct way but refused to pull over, leading officers on a chase that ended near his mother's far West Side house in the 10800 block of Deepwater Bay near Military Drive and Loop 1604, police said.

At first, two officers tried to detain Abernathy but as he continued to resist, a total of six officers became involved, Chief William McManus said.

Officers “got one handcuff on him and he got very violent at that point,” McManus said. “They were unable to control him despite repeated requests to comply.”

Abernathy's mother and a brother complained about the force used in the arrest, but McManus said Abernathy injured three officers during a struggle in which the use of a Taser and finally a police canine had no discernible effect on him.

One officer suffered a dislocated hand and the other two officers had cuts, scrapes and bruises, he said. They were treated and released.

“It wasn't until he decided to give up they were able to control him,” McManus said.

Once Abernathy was handcuffed and had been in the patrol cruiser a “period of time,” he stopped breathing, McManus said. EMS tried to resuscitate him but he was declared dead at the hospital.

All six officers will be on administrative duty during the department's investigation of the incident.

McManus said an autopsy would be needed to confirm if Abernathy was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

McManus said — and court records confirm — that Abernathy had a history of resisting arrest, evading arrest, driving while intoxicated and drug possession charges. He had been out on bail on charges of resisting arrest and evading arrest filed in March.

Abernathy received deferred adjudication for a 2003 charge of possession of drug paraphernalia; he served 40 days for a 2005 resisting arrest charge and in December he was charged again for evading arrest, resisting arrest and DWI, all from the same incident, according to records.

His mother, Brenda Allen, said he had a history of mental illness and officers should have known that because he has been in trouble with them before.

“The police do what they want, when they want, how they want, and we don't have any voice. We just pay their paycheck,” Allen said.

However, the prior incidents involved Bexar County sheriff's deputies, she said. One of those — the arrest in December — resulted in a complaint filed with the Sheriff's Office against three deputies for use of force against Abernathy, according to a previous San Antonio Express-News report.

At the time, relatives said he was struck by deputies' flashlights and jolted by a Taser at least once after being detained on suspicion of driving under the influence and evading arrest, the report said. It added that he was hospitalized after the incident.

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office did not return requests for comment.